Lady Leopards Rally, but Fall to West Branch in Overtime – Girls Basketball
West Branch 50, Louisville 48, OT
The Louisville Leopards Girls Varsity Basketball Team fell to the West Branch Warriors 50-48 in overtime Saturday Evening at Walsh University. The game was part of the 2nd Annual Holiday Hoopla Tournament presented by Hall of Fame Huddle. With the loss, Louisville falls to 2-1 on the season.
Paige Cole scored a game-high 20 points and Sherilynn Mullett poured in 13 to lead the Lady Leopards. Kendal Loy also scored 7 points and led Louisville in rebounds pulling down a team-high 8.
Leopards Erase 9-Point 4th Quarter Deficit
The two long-time rivals played to an 8-8 tie at the end of the first quarter, but the Warriors began pulling away in the second and third quarters. West Branch took a 23-17 lead into the half and then extended that advantage to 34-25 at the end of the third.
The Leopards rallied and erased the Warriors 9-point fourth quarter lead before going ahead 42-40 with less than a minute to play. Cole grabbed an offensive board and put it back to give Louisville their first lead since the opening quarter at 41-40. After a turnover, Loy split a pair from the charity stride to make it 42-40 Leopards.
West Branch was called for an offensive foul on the ensuing possession giving the ball back to Louisville with a chance to put the game away. However, the Leopards missed two free throw attempts opening the door for the Warriors to tie the game. Peyton Alazaus drew a foul on the other end then made a pair of clutch game-typing free throws with 3.1 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime.
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Warriors Prevail in Overtime
The two squads battled back-and-forth in overtime. West Branch took a 47-44 lead midway through the period after Jessica Bock and Sammie Tuel scored back-to-back field goals. Louisville rallied gain as Cole hit 4 clutch free throws to knot the game at 48-48 with 47 seconds left.
However, the Warriors spoiled the Leopards rally when Anna Lippiatt hit home a jumper from just inside the left side of the arch to put West Branch ahead 50-48 with 29 seconds remaining in overtime. LHS was unable to connect on three shot attempts on the other end and the Warriors took the game.
Final: West Branch beats Louisville in OT. 50-48. A couple FT’s with seconds left on the clock put the game in OT and this proved to be the game winner. This gym was absolutely crazy for this finish! #HoildayHoopla pic.twitter.com/Iu1fiPsLwS
— Hall of Fame Huddle (@HOFHuddle_Rich) December 1, 2019
West Branch (1-1) was led by Alazaus who hit 3 three-pointers in scoring a team-high 19 points to go along with a game-leading 9 rebounds. Bock also scored 8 and Tuel added 7 for the Warriors.
West Branch has now defeated Louisville in 9 of their last 12 meetings including the last four matchups overall. The Warriors now lead the all-time series 40-22 with this being the first ever meeting in the series played on a neutral court.
UP NEXT: The Lady Leopards will next travel to Canfield to take on the Cardinals on Monday, December 2. JV is set to begin at 5:30 PM with Varsity following at 7:00 PM.
Cover Photo Taken By and Courtesy of Lori Cole
Varsity Statistics
WARRIORS 50, LEOPARDS 48, OT
Team 1-2-3-4-OT–TOTAL
West Branch 8-15-11-8-8–50
Louisville 8-9-8-17-6–48
WARRIORS: Alazus 6 4 19, Bock 4 0 8, Tuel 3 1 7, Ridgeway 3 0 6, Lippiatt 2 0 4, Scarpitti 1 1 3, Laut 1 0 2, Merler 0 1 1. TOTAL 20 7 50.
3-Pointers (3): Alazaus 3
Team FT: 7-??
LEOPARDS: Cole 7 6 20, Mullett 4 3 13, Loy 2 3 7, Adelman 2 1 5, Dyer 1 0 3, Gibson 0 0 0. TOTAL 16 13 48.
3-Pointers (3): Mullett 2, Dyer
Team FT: 13-??
Fouls: 23-14 West Branch
Rebounds: West Branch 34 (Alazaus 9), Louisville 26 (Loy 8)
Records: West Branch 1-1, Louisville 2-1
JV: Louisville 45, West Branch 38
JV Statistics
LEOPARDS 45, WARRIOR 38
JV Box Score Not Provided
Records: Louisville 1-2, West Branch 0-2
